The United States should audit the Iranian regime for arresting protesters to release them
https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/ken-blackwell/us-must-lead-way-hold-tehran-accountable-and-demand-release-detained
US Must Lead the Way: Hold Tehran Accountable and
Demand Release of Detained Protesters
By Ken Blackwell | January 26,
2018 | 9:35 AM EST
On November 9, 1978, the U.S. Ambassador to
Tehran, William Sullivan sent shock waves through the foreign policy
establishment with a diplomatic cable to the White House titled, “Thinking the
unthinkable. Iran without the Shah.” The Iranian monarchy had been a U.S. ally
for decades, but in less than three months, the Shah and the monarchy were
history.
Pundits were surprised by that change, and they
were surprised again when Iran erupted at the end of 2017 and beginning of
2018. As the principal opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization
of Iran (PMOI/MEK) played an important role in organizing the protests and
breaking the mullahs’ censorship with news about them. Among this news were
reports that protests had emerged in more than 140 localities.
In an era of social media, it was the protesters
who sent the “cables.” The message was plain and simple: With chants like “down
with Rouhani,” “down with Khamenei,” and “no to reformers, no to hardliners;
this game is over,” the Iranian people clearly communicated that they want
regime change, and they want it now.
Some 50 protesters were shot dead by security
forces and the Revolutionary Guards. And according to the MEK, at least 8,000
defenseless protesters were arrested. (Regime officials have acknowledged
3,700.) Reliable reports indicate that at least ten protesters have been killed
under torture in prison. Some were then placed in front of their parents’
houses. A number of protesters are missing, and there is no news of their
condition.
For years the mullahs and their advocates
convinced foreign policymakers that the opposition was limited to a number of
exiles abroad and that inside Iran there are only the regime’s two factions.
The protests completely debunked this narrative.
On January 9, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei blamed
the U.S. for plotting the protests with the MEK. “The MEK had prepared for this
months ago,” he said, adding, “The MEK’s media outlets had called for it.”
It is a conventional gambit of despots who are
rejected by their own people, to blame foreign powers. The uprising was not a
conspiracy by foreign powers; rather it discredited the Obama administration
and the Europeans’ appeasement of the ruling theocracy.
Very much to their credit, President Trump and
Vice President Pence quickly and repeatedly expressed political support for the
brave Iranians and their just demands. UN Ambassador Nikki Healey made
commendable efforts to take the issue to the UN Security Council.
The uprising showed that the multi-billion dollar
windfall from the nuclear deal did not benefit the people. Rather, the mullahs
used the political and economic benefits of the deal for further human rights
abuses and to intensify their war efforts in the region. But these
interventions have only made the regime more fragile.
The uprising was a revolt for freedom, popular
sovereignty, social justice, and prosperity. It showed that Iranian society is
in an explosive state, simmering with discontent. It showed that the regime is
much weaker than perceived.
The mullahs have been able to contain the
protests for the time being, but the forces that brought millions to the
streets are still working and more eruptions loom on the horizon.
As Maryam Rajavi, the president of the National
Council of Resistance of Iran put it, “The mullahs cannot prevent the
resurgence of the uprisings because they only depend on their deeply-hated
repressive organs. They have lost the most important component of their power
to enchain the society … The Iranian society will not return to the conditions
preceding the uprising, nor is the religious dictatorship capable of regaining
its previous balance.”
Scores of brave protesters who have broken
the ayatollahs censorship have told the world that they are more determined
than ever and that none of these brutal measures will break their convictions.
They vowed that they will not relent until they reach their goal: To bring down
the theocracy and establish democracy in Iran.
It is a moral imperative for the U.S. and the
whole of the West to stand on their side. Specifically, we should demand the
immediate release of protesters who were detained.
As Mrs. Rajavi told major political groups in the
Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe on January 24, “All governments
should adopt effective measures and binding decisions to compel the religious
dictatorship ruling Iran to release the prisoners of the uprising, uphold
freedom of expression and association, end repression and lift the compulsory
veil.”
The U.S. should keep the moral high ground, lead
the way internationally, and hold Tehran accountable for its treatment of
protesters. The regime must understand that it has to pay a high price for
opening fire on demonstrators and killing them under torture. It is sad that
Europe has chosen to ignore these issues in favor of economic considerations,
but when the U.S. moves to the correct side of history, Europe has no choice
but to follow.
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Ambassador Haley rightly suggested that the U.S.
demand a hearing at the UN. She should urge the High Commissioner for Human
Rights to form a committee to investigate arbitrary arrests and the deaths of
detainees. But whatever the means, we must keep focused on this issue.
Remaining silent is the worst thing we can do for Iran’s protesters.
As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “In the
end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our
friends.” But surely the Iranian people’s friends in the free world will not be
silent.
After all, this is a moment the world has long
been waiting for, a crossroads where we can achieve what seemed unthinkable
just a few weeks ago: Iran freed from the clutches of ayatollahs.
Ken Blackwell was U.S. Ambassador to the United
Nations Human Rights Commission from 1991-93. He received the Superior Honor
Award from the Bush(41) and Clinton administrations.
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